“Bieye, be careful, or Little Potato might steal your wife,” Bu Yucheng teased.
Shang Bieye smiled at the two squatting by the stream, “Little Potato is still young, he doesn’t mean it like that.”
“Yeah, you’re overreacting,” Wu Yangfeng gave Bu Yucheng a sidelong glance.
“How is this overreacting? Little Potato hasn’t realized it yet, but when he does, you’ll see,” Bu Yucheng said, unconvinced.
Shang Bieye shook his head with a smile; Bu Yucheng always had a way of making a point out of nothing.
“Alright, let’s not joke around. Have you guys felt like someone’s been following us recently?” Shang Bieye casually surveyed the surroundings.
“You felt it too? I thought it was just my imagination,” Bu Yucheng picked a blade of grass and started chewing on it.
“Who do you think it could be?” Shang Bieye asked.
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s probably about the Time Mirror. And we still don’t know if the snake that bit Brother Nie was sent by someone,” Wu Yangfeng said calmly.
“But no one knows we took the Time Mirror!” Bu Yucheng remembered Nie Kuang saying that no one knew he had handed the mirror over to them.
Wu Yangfeng shook his head, “Brother Nie didn’t tell anyone, but we left Black Gate so blatantly. Whether or not, I think someone would suspect.”
“True,” Bu Yucheng nodded in agreement.
“But we still don’t know who they are or what they want,” Shang Bieye pondered.
“Let’s hope nothing goes wrong,” Wu Yangfeng said solemnly, and the three of them looked towards Yan Xinmeng and Little Potato by the stream.
“Little Potato, this should be enough,” Yan Xinmeng said, looking at the water bags now full.
“Okay! Whatever Mistress says!” Little Potato said happily.
“Hehe, you’re so cute!” Yan Xinmeng couldn’t help but pinch his cheek gently. Seeing Yan Xinmeng’s radiant smile, Little Potato blushed with a shy smile. I want my future wife to be just like Mistress, beautiful, smart, and capable, Little Potato thought to himself.
“Alright, let’s go!” Yan Xinmeng picked up the water bags and stood up. Little Potato also tried to stand, but then he noticed something red slowly moving towards them in the stream.
“Hey, what’s that?” Little Potato pointed at the red shadow in the water.
Yan Xinmeng turned to look but couldn’t make out what it was, her curiosity piqued, she walked into the stream. “Mistress, be careful!” Little Potato shouted.
“It’s okay,” Yan Xinmeng waved with a smile. She couldn’t see clearly what it was, so she picked up a stick from nearby and poked at the red shadow. To her surprise, the red shadow darted towards her ankle.
“Ouch! That hurts!” Yan Xinmeng cried out in pain, dropping the stick into the water. Little Potato was startled, dropping all the water bags, and rushed over to Yan Xinmeng.
“Mistress, what’s wrong?” Little Potato asked with concern.
“I… I think I’ve been bitten by a snake!” As soon as she finished speaking, she fainted.
Hearing Yan Xinmeng’s scream, the three men hurried over. They only heard her say she was bitten by a snake before she lost consciousness.
“Xinmeng?! Xinmeng?!” Shang Bieye, in a panic, lifted her from the water. Wu Yangfeng quickly took her pulse, his face changing immediately, and he swiftly pressed several acupoints on her.
“Yangfeng, what’s wrong with Xinmeng?” Shang Bieye asked urgently.
“She’s been poisoned!” Wu Yangfeng said with furrowed brows.
“Poisoned?! How could she be poisoned?!” Shang Bieye was shocked, then immediately turned to Little Potato, who was standing there with teary eyes, feeling guilty, “Little Potato, weren’t you two just filling the water bags?”
“Yes! We were about to leave after filling the bags, but then I saw something red in the water and told Mistress. She went to check, and then she screamed and passed out,” Little Potato explained, trembling and crying, “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t told Mistress…”
At that moment, everyone’s attention was on Yan Xinmeng, and no one had the heart to comfort Little Potato’s self-blame.
In Chapter Nine, at the inn’s upper room, Shang Bieye anxiously watched Yan Xinmeng lying on the bed, her complexion turning darker by the minute.
“Yangfeng, is there anything we can do?”
“I’ll try,” Wu Yangfeng had no confidence, but he had to try. He took out a bag of golden needles from his pocket, spread them out, and with practiced hands, began inserting them into Yan Xinmeng’s vital acupoints. When he pulled out the needles, the part that had entered her body was entirely black, and black blood slowly seeped out from where the needles had been.
“How could this happen?” Shang Bieye exclaimed in panic.
Wu Yangfeng hadn’t expected this either; he quickly took out a White Jade Lingzhi Pill from his medicine box and tried to get her to swallow it, but Yan Xinmeng couldn’t take it in.
“Yangfeng, let me help.”
Shang Bieye helped Yan Xinmeng up and tossed the pill from Wu Yangfeng’s hand into his own mouth. After biting it a few times, he pressed his lips against Yan Xinmeng’s, trying his best to transfer the medicine into her mouth. Seeing that the medicine had successfully entered her mouth, Wu Yangfeng still looked grave because he had no confidence in curing her. When he took her pulse, he found her condition was exactly the same as Nie Kuang’s when he was poisoned by snake venom. After settling Yan Xinmeng on the bed, Shang Bieye asked Wu Yangfeng, “What do we do now?” Wu Yangfeng shook his head silently. “Impossible! How could there be a disease you can’t cure?” Shang Bieye exclaimed excitedly. “Bieye, don’t be like this,” Bu Yuchen held him back. “Because the poison she has is the same as Nie Kuang’s, and we don’t have a second Nine Revolutions Revitalizing Pill,” Wu Yangfeng explained helplessly. Hearing this, Shang Bieye slumped powerlessly into a chair. “Nine Revolutions Revitalizing Pill… Nine Revolutions Revitalizing Pill…” he muttered. “Yangfeng, is there really no way?” Bu Yuchen was also at a loss seeing Shang Bieye like this. Wu Yangfeng looked at Bu Yuchen with sorrow, “If possible, I would trade my life for hers.” “Yangfeng, you…” Bu Yuchen didn’t expect Wu Yangfeng to say that, seeing an unknown emotion in his eyes. However, Shang Bieye, who was beside them, didn’t hear what Wu Yangfeng said because he was completely lost in his own thoughts. “Sigh, you two stay here and watch over her! Little Potato, let’s go downstairs to prepare some food for them so they can have the strength to take care of your master’s wife,” Bu Yuchen patted Little Potato on the shoulder.
Days went by, and Shang Bieye and Wu Yangfeng tirelessly cared for Yan Xinmeng, but her breathing grew slower and showed no signs of improvement. On the seventh night, both men sat in silence, staring at the person on the bed, as this might be her last day. “Xinmeng, Xinmeng,” Shang Bieye called softly, but she did not wake. Wu Yangfeng walked over to them, his heart as pained as Shang Bieye’s, but he could only watch in silence. “Xinmeng, wake up!” Shang Bieye said almost in tears, “Xinmeng, say something! You always loved teasing me, why aren’t you talking now?” “Yangfeng, come here and see if Xinmeng is asleep?” Shang Bieye insisted on getting an answer from Wu Yangfeng. But at this moment, Wu Yangfeng’s grief was no less than his own; how could he speak?
